Parents usually need to struggle with their children until they eat their food. This struggle takes time and effort, may repeat frequently, and may not result in teaching the child to behave well while dining. The children may not want to eat their food because they want to do other things that appear more attractive to them. But as parents, we would like our children to eat with everyone around the table and to finish their food nicely.
So in many meals there are the same arguments and/or fights with the children about convincing them to eat their food. Parents usually use the “Carrot or Stick” approach, which refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and/or punishments to induce behavior. In the “stick” approach, the parent will sometimes say to the children that if they do not finish their food and do not behave well then they will not be allowed to watch TV today or play on the computer. In the “Carrot” approach, the parent will say to the children that if they finish the food and eat nicely then they will get a chocolate, a candy, a gift, a present, and/or a special surprise. This routine may repeat frequently, and eventually, at the end, the children receive the chocolate, candy or another reward.
Thus, there is a need for a system and a method to reward a child to eat well without throwing away the food, and without requiring the parents to invest so much time and energy in struggling and fighting until the child eats the dish.